Your attention, please, Sen. Elton Gallegly

Over the years, you have continued to fail to vote according to what people here in Ventura actually support, but when you failed to vote for health care reform, you really showed your true colors.
I have been patiently trying to be a good citizen and write you letters, urging you to support the right of every American to have a healthy life, and get at least the minimal coverage for health care. At every turn, whether it was your argumentative secretary or your reply letters filled with lies (like the one that stated that 80 percent of Americans are happy with their health care), you have been nothing but a bump in the road for real change in this country.

So I decided that was the last straw.

I will be joining the Democratic Party, and will be working tirelessly on their campaign to dethrone you. Don’t bother sending me one of your pathetic, pandering letters of self-righteous justifications for your actions. With this vote, you have shown your district, in the clearest of terms, that you do not support regular people like me; and please know, we heard you loud and clear.

Times have changed, Sen. Gallegly, and it is clear that you have not. 

Daniel Flores
Ventura

Respect for our veterans
As a local First American of Chumash descent, I was pleased to read of the impending opening of the Veterans Home. (News, 11/5)

The fact that the home is located on traditional Chumash village land bodes well for the veterans as, in our culture, veterans hold the highest honor. This is one of the reasons that at powwow no one enters the arena until veterans do.

Historically, First Americans are some of the first to sign up for military duty. Even in times when we were truly not considered “real” Americans. This is our country, and its ideals still hold a place in our hearts, i.e., religious freedoms, education, etc. These rights are not always recognized by all, but we hold out hope and still believe in our country.

Anyone who wants to be reminded how we should value our veterans, elders and children should come to a powwow and see how it’s done.

Regina Washtiqoliqol
Ventura

Fast, high times of yesteryear
That was a well-written, informative, article on weed. (Feature, 11/5) Although I still refer to it as pot, my youngest son told me “pot” is the old-fashioned word, which fits right in with me since I just turned 67 years old a couple of days ago. The article did bring back some very fond memories of the late ’70s and early ’80’s and all the good times I had.

Nick Moga
Youngstown, Ohio

Obama failures, not Bush
Poor Chris Jensen. (Letters, 11/12) He is bravely spinning the failed Obama administration, even as it is circling the bowl and heading for the drain. Is there ever going to be a point where he admits that he made a big mistake voting for Obama, or is he going to blame Bush for everything until the GOP landslide victory in 2012? The Obama administration has had 11 months to make its political mark but has achieved nothing but one failure after another. Jensen spouts the usual DNC bogeymen like fear mongering, WMDs and Halliburton, but where are his comments on Obama’s accomplishments? There aren’t any. 

Why doesn’t Chris talk about closing Gitmo, pulling troops out of Iraq, the stimulus package, winning in Afghanistan, health care reform, Chicago Olympics, cap and trade, green jobs, 30 unconstitutional czars and cash for clunkers? All of these are abysmal Obama failures. The only things Obama has succeeded in are insulting policemen, nationalizing banks and automakers, raising unemployment above 10 percent and bowing to a Saudi king. Obama’s approval polls are sinking like a stone, and the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races are a strong indication that voters there are already tired of hope and change.

This is not Bush’s recession. Obama is president. The buck stops there. If you have to blame this recession on somebody besides Barry, blame it on the Barney Franks, Chris Dodds and Nancy Pelosis in Congress who forced banks to make unrepayable loans to ACORN hucksters and illegal aliens. Stand up and take credit, Mr. Jensen, for electing the worst president in the history of the country. Proudly slap another “No blood for oil” sticker on your Prius. People like you put the

Chicago corruption machine in the White House. Live with the failures and stop blaming President Bush.

Forrest Mize
Ventura

Property taxes to save Wright Library
An open letter to the Ventura City Council and County Library Commission

I’m appalled and outraged by Jackie Griffin’s announcement about Wright Library, especially since she implies that there’s nothing she can do, that she’s helpless to resolve the situation. It seems clear that Ms. Griffin did as much or more to cause the problem as anyone. Not reviewing the budget, and then wrongly spending the monies that were no longer being received from Moorpark after it pulled out of the system, sound like firing offenses to me. Don’t they
to you?

(That she was hired away from Berkeley and given a housing and car allowance was flagrant poor judgment. Perhaps, had she been moving from Ventura to Berkeley, she might have needed a housing allowance — because the SF Bay area has much higher housing costs. Maybe that’s where she got the idea that it was OK to spend money foolishly in Ventura.)

Libraries are absolutely essential to our democracy, to the education of our children and our own ongoing education, and also to the well-being of all of us in the community. What a valuable part of our community Wright Library is! And what a tremendous bargain! For $1 a year, we get the building. There’s no air conditioning and they use fluorescent lights, so the power usage cannot be that much. The librarians are woefully underpaid, yet they do a fantastic job. When the lease runs out in several years, the best case would be to renegotiate the lease with Ventura College — since the library is so well-situated between El Camino and Foothill High Schools, as well as convenient for so many Venturans, that would be ideal.

 If not, between now and then, we could move the library into the old Circuit City complex of buildings — perhaps that one on the end, facing Telegraph; it’s been closed so long I forget what used to be there — a drug store? Or into the old Mervyn’s building. We need to keep our library, even if we can’t lease the building for a $1 per year in perpetuity.

We need to maintain and restore the Wright staff, as well as pay them what they deserve. No one who works hard and does an excellent job should be forced to live from paycheck to paycheck.

I demand that the more than $1 million of property tax money that our community paid for Wright Library go where it’s supposed to go — to maintain Wright Library and maintain and restore its staff of outstanding librarians. Please don’t wait.

Make that happen now.

Thanks very much!

Lynne Moore
Ventura